Students’ Fitness Assessments Carry Shared Benefits

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Exercise Science Club has developed a unique fundraiser that allows students to gain further hands-on experience while providing employees of Penn College and other local schools with information they can use to achieve their fitness goals.

The proceeds will help club members to pay for the National Strength Conditioning Association Personal Trainer certification exam.

The students, all planning to graduate with associate degrees in exercise science this May, have assembled a group of assessments:

Resting Metabolic Rate: This assessment takes about 12 minutes. While you sit and breathe, Cardio Coach equipment measures how many calories your body expends over a 24-hour period. An estimate of your daily activity level will be included, and the result will tell you approximately how many calories you burn. Cost: $15.

Two-Day Dietary Log: Includes a chart for you to log your food intake. Students will analyze the balance of intake vs. expenditure and recommend the correct dietary breakdown of carbohydrates, fats and protein for successful weight management. Cost: $20.

Ideal Body Weight: This assessment requires a simple assessment of your body fat based on total body weight. Students can determine you current body weight and fat estimate in less than a minute by placing a tab at your wrist and instep. Their formula will then tell you how many pounds you need to drop to reach that ideal body weight and ideal body fat percentage. Cost: $15.

1-Mile Walk: Walk your fastest, indoors or outdoors. The results of this assessment will place you in a category of aerobic (cardiorespiratory) fitness. The assessment also includes calculating your specific target heart rate training zone – the most efficient intensity level for fat loss and heart strength. Cost: $20.

Those interested in all four assessments can purchase the package for $50.

“These four tests give you the basic knowledge to achieve a healthier lifestyle by knowing your nutritional values (calories in), your baseline metabolic rate (calories out), body composition and cardio intensity,” said Daniel S. Fertig, Exercise Science Club president. “This information helps you form the best plan to make yourself a better YOU.”

Fertig is an exercise science student from Turbotville.

Employees registered for the BeHIP workplace wellness initiative earn 10 points for each assessment or 50 points total if they complete all four.

To schedule an assessment, contact John Arrigonie, exercise science lab supervisor, by email, or by calling 570-320-2400, ext. 7401.